


Back to What

by desperationandgin



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-31
Updated: 2013-07-31
Packaged: 2017-12-21 23:51:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/906419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desperationandgin/pseuds/desperationandgin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina and Emma return from Neverland. During the the trip home their relationship changed into something Regina isn't used to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Back to What

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea where this random idea came from, but here it is. There's no explicit smut, only implied. As always I own nothing except for the idea. Unintentional shipping to the end.

There was something very fascinating about watching Emma Swan sleep. 

As Regina shifted onto her side, Emma rolled to her back, taking with her half of the sheet. Rolling her eyes, Regina propped her head up on one hand, noting the way Emma slept with one leg in and one leg out of the sheets. It gave the queen a view she could greatly appreciate; naked leg, bent knee and a thigh with a red mark from being unable to keep her teeth away from that skin when it moved over her shoulder. 

They’d tumbled into bed together after their return from Neverland. They were all exhausted, they all wanted to collapse in real beds after taking real showers. A weary Henry hadn’t been thinking as he walked toward Mifflin Street, and either Emma hadn’t thought twice about it, or she was too tired to care. Both women were sore and bruised, and after getting Henry into his bed, Regina went to her own room, not expecting anyone to follow. 

“I could sleep for a week,” Emma mumbled as she collapsed on Regina’s neatly smoothed sheets and kicked off her shoes. 

“This is my room, dear. We no longer share a cabin. If you need to stay here, there’s a guest bedroom down the hall.” She wouldn’t make her walk all the way back to her parent’s shared apartment, not now. 

“Oh. Yeah,” Emma said almost sheepishly. “No more listening to you snore to put me to sleep.” 

“I do not snore, Ms. Swan.”

“We’re back to that?” 

Bone tired and not at all willing to do this right now, Regina snapped. “Back to _what_?”

“Formalities, your majesty.” Emma couldn’t mask the hint of hurt in her voice. It was enough to make Regina soften a little. 

“Fine. Stay on your side of the bed.” Regina slid onto the mattress, still dressed, and let out a very content sigh at the feel of her pillow and high thread count sheets. She was out like a light, and only woke when she felt something tight around her waist. Vague memories of the unpleasantness in Neverland startled her, and she opened her eyes quickly, ready to struggle when she realized it was Emma’s arm wrapped around her. 

So much for her side of the bed. 

Moving to get up, that arm tightened, and a low, sleepy voice murmured. “Don’t.” That was all it took for Regina to go right back down. 

“I never took a shower,” Regina said, as if that were an excuse for getting up at four in the morning. 

“You haven’t taken one in days, what’s the difference now?” Emma reasoned. 

"That's crude." Silence stretched on, until Regina finally spoke again. “Your arm is around me.” 

Emma didn’t move. “Are we pretending like that didn’t happen? Back on the ship, would you rather…” 

“No,” Regina said quickly, imagines of Emma flushed and wanting flickering through her mind. And then, perhaps to appease Emma, she spoke again. “I’m not used to…this. And I smell like a barn.” 

Relinquishing her hold, Emma rolled onto her back. “Go take a shower.” Her smile directed at Regina made the other woman quietly pleased as she walked to the bathroom. Any other thought was driven out of her mind as soon as she stepped under hot water. She could kiss the tiled walls, and in fact leaned against them, letting the water that was nearly too hot wash away days of worry and fear. Once she stepped out, Emma was right there to take her place, and Regina watched as she stepped into the shower, already naked, and tilted her head to the side. 

“You could join me.” 

“That only works right in erotic novels,” Regina retorted. 

“What do you know about erotic novels?” There was light laughter as Emma’s question was met by silence. Changing into satin pajamas, Regina got back into bed, clean and still weary. She was dozing when Emma began calling her name. 

“Regina, I don’t have any clean clothes here. Regina?” 

She blinked open her eyes, and there stood Emma, completely naked. There was lust, certainly, but more than that, worry. “I didn’t realize you were so bruised,” she murmured before reaching to take hold of Emma’s hand, urging her to sit. Then, Regina sat up, her hands wielding a soft purple glow to start healing some of those bruises. 

Emma was still, eyes on Regina’s, until her own hands reached for Regina’s buttoned top, tugging it over her head, not having the patience for being proper. Her suspicions were confirmed when she revealed a deep purple bruise across the other woman’s stomach. Frowning, Emma used her magic (which came much easier these days) to reverse the damage, the same as Regina was doing now.

When both were satisfied that the majority of the bruises were taken care of, there they sat, staring right at each other until Regina broke the silence. “It’s four-thirty in the morning.” And one of them was completely naked in her bed. She watched as Emma’s hand reached out, not to heal this time, but to touch. Her fingers moved down Regina’s collarbone, resulting in a delighted involuntary shiver.

“So? Where do you have to be?”

“Your parents…”

“Don’t. I’ve spent enough time bonding with them. That was the longest boat ride of my life.”

“It was only the second boat ride of your life, if I had to wager.”

“You know what I mean,” Emma smirked. “I’m not going to see them at first light. Do we keep talking, or can I kiss you now?”

The question surprised Regina for some reason, even with their current state of undress. By now, both women were letting hands glide over skin, Regina’s own fingers stroking over the curve of Emma’s breast. “Kiss me,” she finally replied, looking up, catching green eyes darken with want. There wasn’t time on the trip home to linger, to savor. Henry had been with his grandparents – the three of them – and they’d taken advantage of the short time alone. It was unexpected to be sure, but after everything, it wasn’t unwanted. It wasn’t desperate. It was what both of them had known in the mine and been too afraid to acknowledge before getting to Neverland. But now – _now_ – Regina wanted to touch. Taste. To get her fill.

Pressing Emma back so that their heads landed at the foot of the bed, Regina let her lips drag down Emma’s body, and a leg moved over her shoulder when she finally let her tongue taste. It delighted her; thrilled her to know that this woman laid herself bare for her. But more than that, to know that she would lay herself bare in return, drove all of Regina’s actions.

And now, hours later, she watched Emma sleep, lips slightly parted. They had a long road, the two of them. Regina knew that they’d both be fought, tooth and nail. That Snow and Charming would throw every sin ever committed back in Regina’s face right in front of Emma, rescue mission as a _family_ be damned. But for now, Regina watched the way the other woman shifted in her sleep. She let herself feel, and she let her fascination grow.


End file.
